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The funeral of Michael Harper
In this sad episode, everyone says good-bye to the beloved Michael Harper. ANNOUNCER: Guest stars today are Lauren Lane as Angela Mercier; Jordan Charney as Sam Lucas; Ann Wedgeworth as Lahoma Lucas and Vail Bloom as Sarah Ashton. Scene One Trinity Church in Copley Square. A sea of people is entering this, one of the largest of Boston's churches. Today is Michael Harper's funeral and everyone from the business world, political world, and every other walk of life, it seems, is in attendance. Even the mayor of Boston and the Governor of Massachusetts are in attendance, which speaks volumes of the influence of Michael Harper and the Harper family in this city and this part of the United States. WENDY: What a turn out. ANYSSA: A turn out indeed. Seems like everyone and their parents are here. (Enter Susannah and Ellen Lucas. They arrived and stayed overnight when they heard Michael had died. Sam and Lahoma are with them. Velda had contacted them after Michael had passed away.) SAM: Wendy, I am very sorry for your loss. Michael was an incredible man. LAHOMA: Yes, he was thought of highly in Oklahoma City. WENDY: Thank you, Sam, Lahoma. He often spoke highly of you too. (Lahoma hugs Anyssa, whom she considers a second daughter) LAHOMA: How are you doing, honey? ANYSSA: Doing well, Mom. Wow, can you imagine? Both my mothers are here. LAHOMA: We wouldn't be anywhere else. SAM: Yes, my dearest, we miss Michael, and he was a large part of our lives. (Along comes Anngelique and her family. She and her ex-husband, AJ are under a cease fire, for the day. Jeff is there with Jamie.) ANNGELIQUE: I am sorry to hear about your husband's passing, Mrs. Harper. WENDY: Thank you, Ms. Minzell. JAMIE: He will be sorely missed, I only met him that once, but he was a major presence. WENDY: Yes, he was, my dear. AJ: You're in our thoughts. WENDY: Thank you, AJ. (Along comes long-time Harper friend, Angela Mercier) ANGELA: Oh, my dears. I am sorry to hear about Michael. SHEILA: Thank you for coming, Angela. ANGELA: I think they are motioning for us to go in. SHEILA: You're right, Angela. It IS time for us to go in. DYLAN: Yeah, they are itching for us to go in. WENDY: Sam, would you and Lahoma want to sit with the family? We do consider you, Susie and Ellen as family. SAM: I would be honored. LAHOMA: Of course, we would. SHEILA: Same with you, Angela. ANGELA: I would be honored. (Everyone goes into the sanctuary) Scene Two The sanctuary. Everyone is settled into the church. A veritable who's who of powerful people are all in attendance for the funeral. The Mayor of Boston; the Governor of Massachusetts; Senators; Congressmen (of both parties), even the Vice President of the United States are in the crowd of mourners. It shows the power that the Harpers have, mostly in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but also, in a way, the US. PASTOR: We gather together to say our final farewells to a man who has given a lot to not just Boston, and the New England region, but also to the country. Michael Harper was a powerful man, but yet, he was also a kind and wonderful man who GAVE! And he gave without any expectations. He was an excellent son; an excellent husband, and a fantastic father and grandfather. To Wendy, to Dylan, to Hannah, to Rose, to Eric and to Barry, you have the sympathy of the nation. (The camera pans over the congregation. All the Harpers are in attendance, as well as those related by marriage or any other connection. Sam, Lahoma and Angela are with the family. The church is filled wall to wall. Also in attendance and sitting in with the family is Sarah Ashton, who flew in from California. Natalya, Sarah's sister, was married to Michael for a small time, but it was annulled. Sarah came in lieu of Natalya, who had been killed in a car-pedestrian accident in New York. She was now raising her nephew, Christopher. She is sitting next to Angela and they talked about Michael before hand. Dylan is between Adam, his spouse; and Sheila, his cousin. To the family, they are siblings really, but to the world at large, they were thought to be cousins, given that Michael and Michelle were twins. Now, they carry on the fraternal twin bond tradition. Other people who were connected with the Harpers are also in attendance, one of which is Evelyn Whittaker, who had been one of Dylan's across the street neighbors back in Brockton. Jamie is resting his head on AJ's shoulder, and AJ has his arm protectively around his beloved boyfriend, while Anngelique, who is still wincing that her ex-husband, whom she still doesn't trust, is involved with her vulnerable brother, watches them. Jeff shoots his sister a warning look to keep her from saying something she could regret later. Fortunately, Anngelique gets the message. Velda, the family's long-time social secretary, walks up to the podium.) VELDA: I worked with the Harper family for many, many years. I was hired by Michael's father, when he and his sister was nearing their teenage years. He and Michelle were always close, and they were popular in high school. When they were sophomores, Mike was athletic; while Michelle was more into music and classical music. She was into Orchestra, which led to her being involved in the Symphony Orchestra, where she was the youngest lead cellist in the orchestra. When Michael got married, six months after his first child, Dylan, was born, he was more proud of being his father than anything. And how he doted on his son. Now, Dylan dotes on his children, Derek and Ashley. He also ran Harper Academy as the headmaster with the same fairness and integrity that he had at home. (Velda comes down from the podium and Rachel Cory Hutchins goes up.) RACHEL: It goes without saying. Michael Harper was a giver. That was made clear throughout his life. Some people don't get it, but he did. He worked hard and gave of himself, every single day of his life. The first day I arrived here in New England from my home in Bay City, it was Michael who gave me a chance to make Cory Publishing a big name in Boston. While it is not a name like Harcourt, Cory is getting there. And Michael was the one who made it happen. My late husband, Mac, would have been in approval of how things worked. I am sure that Mac will be there to talk with Michael about everything. I am so glad to have been able to meet Michael and become involved in his life, his world, and his family. He was a superb human being, and he will be sorely missed, not just by his family, but by everyone whose lives he had touched. (Rachel leaves the podium. Michelle goes up to the podium.) MICHELLE: So many times, I was closest with Michael than I was with any of my other siblings. There were things I couldn't tell Sam, Erica, Jason and Aaron, or even Veronica, that I could only tell Michael. He was more of my sounding board than anyone else. When we would have fights, he and I would have blowouts! But we would bond even more quickly, and we could talk about our issues, and we would be friends again, as fast as we blow up. I loved him so much, and even in death, I will always cherish his memories. I will so miss you, my twin. Rest in peace, honey. You will be missed. (Michelle leaves the podium in tears. Adrienne helps her sister in-law to her seat.) Scene Three The Atchley mansion, some hours later. Everyone is having a large dinner. Philomena Balducci is helping with dinner, and is slightly annoying Linda Atchison, who is catering the meal. LINDA (amused, in spite of her annoyance): Mrs. Balducci, I do have this under control. PHILOMENA: But dear, dear, you DO need to add more garlic to the Veal Scallopini! (Linda, though annoyed, is beginning to smile at Philomena's daring. She gets an idea.) LINDA: You mean, you could do well on the Italian cooking? PHILOMENA: I could cook RINGS around your cook now. LINDA (confident): All right, Mrs. Balducci, I am going to take you up on that! You cook the rest of the meal. However you want to do it. PHILOMENA: I will do a good job for you, Linda, you'll see! Scene Four The main living room. Everyone is talking and rehashing the service. Sarah and Angela are talking about past times and their memories of Michael. Sharlyn Washburn and her father, Scott Ames is talking with Wendy.) SCOTT: Wendy, it was a tremendous service. WENDY: Thank you, Scott. I am thankful that you two are with us here. SHARLYN: My pleasure, Mrs. Harper. Dad, have you seen Shane? SCOTT: Shane was helping in the kitchen. SHARLYN: Oh oh! He must have heard we're having catered Italian. You know how he will begin to sing arias in Italian. SCOTT (grinning): At least it keeps him in practice, Shar. SHARLYN: Yes, I suppose it does. (In the kitchen, Philomena and Shane are singing some italian arias, and really having a fun time, while they are working on the food.) '' PHILOMENA ''(loudly): Here's the first course everyone. (The entire crowd is surprised when they see the delicious food. Shane is singing some arias he knew from some of his favorite operas. As he helps serve portions to everyone, he is singing. Sharlyn is amused, but is also highly proud of her son.) DYLAN: Wow! We get some good food and some good entertainment as well. SHANE OWENS: He is very good at that. SHEILA: He has a good tenor voice. ANNGELIQUE: He certainly does. (A clinking of glass silences the conversation. It is Hannah.) HANNAH: I want to thank all of you for coming today. It means a lot to my family that you all could come and pay respects to my father and all he has done. I would love to thank Linda Atchison for the catering, and also to her unofficial assistants, Shane Washburn and Aunt Philo for their help. Now, let's eat. End of speech! (Everyone is laughing and they are getting their fill. The day was harrowing, but yet, Michael is at peace. At the end, a door opens, and it is Violet Harper (Michael's mother, whose death was the focus of the very first episode of Harpers Falls, played by retired actress, Georgann Johnson, in this one scene) who opens it. She smiles when she sees it is her son, Michael.) VIOLET: Welcome home, Michael. Welcome home, my darling son. Richard, come and see. Michael's here! (Richard, played in this one scene by Jed Allan, comes to see his son.) '' RICHARD: Welcome home, my boy. ''(The scene slowly fades out.) Category:Episodes Category:Hall of Fame Episodes Category:Funeral episodes